Back to your roots - Pork with Roots

This post is part of Some Pig Blogging Weekend, a little event started by Kate Hill's French Kitchen Adventures in order to celebrate San Antonio Abate, whose feast day is January 17. Pretty cool!

I like pork a great deal. Mostly, I just fry up a nice cutlet, which goes with so many things, but it's nice to do a different sort of dish once in a while. This one is very healthy - nice for January, when I'm sure more people than me are trying to get into good habits - and surprisingly tasty. I say surprisingly, because I know the ingredient list doesn't look all that great. But do try it! It's so good!

Use thinly cut pork if you can - that will be more tender in this dish, since it's not simmered for very long.

Pork with Roots
serves 2

250-300 g lean pork, no bones
2 medium carrots
200 g swede (rutabaga)
100 g celeriac
1 turnip
1 yellow onion
1 bouillon cube
200 ml water
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
dried thyme, oregano and tarragon, a pinch of each
freshly ground pepper
2 tsp runny honey
olive oil

Cut the carrots into thick coins. Dice the swede (rutabaga) and turnip into 1 cm dice, and the celeriac into tiny dice. (0.5 cm)

Cut the onion into wedges, and the meat into bite-sized pieces.

Heat up a little bit of olive oil in a large pot. Brown the meat. Add the carrot, swede (rutabaga), turnip and onion, and give it a good stir. Add the bouillon cube, the water and the balsamic vinegar. Add the dried herbs - a good pinch of each.

Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and lower heat. Let it simmer for 30 minutes, or until all the vegetables are soft. Season to taste with runny honey and freshly ground pepper. I use a pepper mix with white pepper, black pepper and pink peppercorns. You might want to add a touch more vinegar.

Serve with brown rice, or just with bread. Delicious!